


Papyrus and Grillby's Bizarre Adventures

by SesuRescue (Kigachan)



Series: Papyrus and Grillby doing totally normal couple things on the Surface [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Drinking, Fireplaces, M/M, Napping, Papyrus & Undyne BroTP, Surface Life, adding tags as I go, limes the fruit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-10-28 02:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kigachan/pseuds/SesuRescue
Summary: A collection of short stories and drabbles detailing the everyday life of Papyrus and Grillby in this established universe. Based on prompts, headcanons, and shower thoughts.





	1. Grillby learns the lime story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt from Rabbitpie that references the in-game conversation between Papyrus, Frisk, and Undyne. [The Lime Story](https://undertale-encyclopedia.tumblr.com/post/158316175446/calling-papyrus-and-undyne-twice-near-the-l2)
> 
> When I wondered how could limes come up naturally, I thought about when one would encounter limes, and this came out. 
> 
> You can imagine where they reside on the surface to be wherever you want, EXCEPT Mexico for this particular story. They drink tequila differently from the rest of the world haha
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't drink tequila, or do shots, so this was 100% googling and figuring lol.

Grillby looked around the restaurant as he cleaned a shot glass, brows furrowed. Sans, sensing Grillby’s distress, pushed his bottle of ketchup to the side as he slouched over the bar. “‘sup grillbz?”

“... Do you hear something? Sounds like… shouting.”

Sans cocked his head to the side, listening. “oh. yeah, that’s nothing to worry about, that’s just-”

The front door suddenly burst open, cutting him off mid-sentence. Undyne marched into the restaurant with Papyrus in tow, both singing loudly and off-key. They had their arms around each other’s shoulders as they made their way over.

“Hi Grillby!” Papyrus chirped happily, catching his breath as he took a seat between Sans and Undyne. He patted Sans on the back. “Hello brother! How are you?”

“hey pap, undyne get you drunk already?”

“WE HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED YET PUNK! LET’S DO SOME SHOTS!” Undyne cheered as she slammed her fist on the counter. Grillby sighed, putting his cloth and now-clean shot glass down as he bent down to grab more glasses. Undyne was strong enough to suplex boulders, so hopefully her fists didn’t leave a dent.

Grillby placed the glasses on the bartop, looking from Undyne to Papyrus curiously. He knew that every once in awhile the two of them would hang out, but he couldn’t imagine his adorable boyfriend doing shots and getting drunk. Well, he had never seen Papyrus drunk after any hangout sessions when he came home. He must have a high tolerance to keep up with Undyne. It’s probably a skeleton thing. “... So, what are you two drinking tonight?”

“TEQUILA!”

“Undyne, I would suggest that we take it easy and drink anything else,” Papyrus reasoned. “Remember the last time we did tequila shots together?”

Undyne leaned on her hand as she tried to recall their last drinking encounter. “Yeah! I UH… IT WAS… well, actually, I don’t remember.”

“that’s because you practically drank yourself into a coma. alphys had to drag you home,” Sans explained.

“NGAHHHH! IT DOESN'T MATTER! You only live once right?! Let’s drink until we can’t remember our names!” Undyne pumped a fist into the air. She turned to Sans. “You in?”

Sans shook his head. “promised tori i’d watch the kid tomorrow. can’t have a hangover.”

Papyrus shrugged, looking at Grillby. “I guess we’re doing tequila shots.”

Grillby nodded, turning around and searching his wall for tequila. A small clear bottle with artwork of a bee on the label stood out to Grillby, it being one of his favorite brands to use for shots. He pulled it off the wall and sat it down on the counter, then reached for a small plate and put it beside the bottle. Squatting down, he retrieved some lime slices from the mini-fridge and a salt shaker from the shelf. He placed the lime slices on the plate and poured a generous amount of salt beside them.

Putting on his super serious bartender face for his mini-crowd, Grillby grabbed the bottle by the neck and flipped it, catching it with the opposite hand. Papyrus gasped and clapped, new to Grillby’s flair bartending.  Grillby decided to show off for his boyfriend a little more, so with a grin on his face he flipped the bottle behind his back into the air and caught it again.

“AMAZING!” Papyrus cheered. Grillby bowed as he twisted the top off the bottle, pouring the tequila into the shot glasses and placing them in front of Undyne and Papyrus.

“how come you never show off for me?” Sans asked playfully.

“... I can only do so much with a ketchup bottle,” Grillby deadpanned as watched the two monsters get ready for their shots.

Undyne licked the back of her hand and poured some salt onto it. Satisfied with the results, she picked up her shot. She looked over to Papyrus, who had picked up his glass as well.

“Ready punk?” Papyrus nodded. “Okay! On the count of 3… 3!”

Undyne quickly licked the salt on the back of her hand, downed her shot, and slammed the glass back on the table. Papyrus followed her as he guzzled down his own shot. Scrunching his face, he tried to hold back a cough as the liquor burned his magic. He failed, coughing as he softly pounded on his ribcage to quell the burn. Undyne watched passively next to him as she sucked on a lime wedge, used to the behavior.

“... Are you okay, Papyrus?” Grillby leaned closer to him, concerned. Papyrus gave a weak thumbs-up as a few more coughs racked his body.

“I’m fine, this usually happens. It's nothing to worry about!” Papyrus replied breathlessly.

“... You DO know how to take tequila shots, right?” Grillby asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,yes, I know the ‘lip, sip, suck’ technique, I just-” Papyrus averted his eyes, looking to the side. “-have an extreme dislike of limes.”

“pfft.”

The three of them turned towards Sans, who had been a silent observer until now, as he slowly lost his composure, giggling against his ketchup bottle. “i completely forgot about you and your lime _citrus_ ation,” he laughed.

Papyrus held his skull in embarrassment as Undyne chortled beside him. “Oh my stars, the lime story!”

“... Lime story?” Grillby questioned.

“paps, you never told him about that? he has to hear it bro.”

“LIME STORY, LIME STORY, LIME STORY, LIME STORY!”

“Okay, okay!” Papyrus groaned, picking his head up. “So, one time I was giving myself the spa treatment, you know the one right? I took some lime slices and put them on my eyes, like they do on tv. But, IT STUNG SO BAD! HOW DO THEY DO THAT??”

“... Aren’t those cucumbers?”

“I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE REJUVENATING!” Papyrus wailed, tears falling from his eye sockets. “It didn’t work so my next idea was ‘maybe I didn’t stick enough on!’ I stuck more limes in my eyes…  that didn’t work either.”

Grillby gawked at Papyrus, dumbstruck. “... Why.”

“I… I just wanted to have handsome bishounen eyes like Mettaton!” Papyrus cried, resting his skull on the bar. Undyne and Sans continued to laugh, both brushing away tears.

“YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE EYES!” Undyne roared, banging the counter.

Grillby held a hand to his mouth as he struggled to hold back his laughter. He could not laugh in front of Papyrus, no matter how hilarious he was. He placed his other hand on Papyrus’ skull, rubbing it in a soothing manner.

“... You’re too cute.”

“Just give me another shot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:  
> “Alphys?... yes, it’s Papyrus… yes, it happened again, can you come pick her up?”
> 
> Thanks for reading! Drop me an idea if you want and maybe I'll thinking about writing on it (I'm super slow tho)
> 
> NSFW Tumblr:[Sesurescue](http://Sesurescue.tumblr.com)


	2. Grillby likes to sleep in the fireplace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grillby has a unique hobby that Papyrus didn't know about

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a shower thought at some point and I thought about Grillby hanging out in his fireplace, for warmth or comfort or something, and this came out. Wrote it about a week ago but finally got the drive to finish/edit it.

Another day of spreading the joy of spaghetti to his wonderful customers, and now it was time for Papyrus to go home. He waved at his coworkers as he left the restaurant, taking the most direct route to his building. Usually on working days he could look forward to getting home first and setting up the couch for cuddle time when Grillby got home, but today was one of Grillby’s rare days off.

What did Grillby do when he was at home without Papyrus? More often than not they synced up days off for fun dates and relaxing together, but this time Papyrus couldn’t get the day off from his job. His co worker Greg took the week off to ‘tye the knot’ (whatever that meant), so they needed him at work to pick up the time. Hopefully Grillby wasn’t too bored without him.

Papyrus stood in front of the apartment complex, fishing out his key from his pocket and letting himself in. He sneaked into their apartment, peering in to see if he could catch Grillby in a compromising position, like last week when he got stuck in the closet. Not immediately spotting him on the couch or in the kitchen, he walked forward and closed the door behind him quietly.

“Hello? I’m home!” Papyrus called out. But nobody came. It seemed like the apartment was empty.

He took off his boots, placing them on the floor mat, and wandered around the kitchen. The door creaked as he popped his head into the closet, finding nothing there except coats and scarves. He took off his coat, hung it up, and closed the closet door.

Next, he decided to check the bedroom; maybe Grillby didn’t hear him because he was sleeping. Napping did come easily to the flame elemental when he could spare the time for it. He opened the bedroom to find an empty bed, still disheveled from the morning before he left. The window was closed, and the lights in the bathroom were off. Not like Grillby would ever be caught in the bathroom.

“Everyone around me is so lazy,”  Papyrus tutted, tidying up the sheets.

He walked back to the living room, sighing as he plopped on the couch. He glanced at the nightstand, noting that Grillby’s steamy romance book was sitting on the edge. Grillby usually kept it with him around the house in his back pocket for spontaneous reading. He must really not be home.

It wasn’t that he was lonely, the Great Papyrus is completely capable of being home alone! He just… wished Grillby left a note before he went out. Or maybe texted Papyrus to meet up for outside activities. That was their thing, going out together.

As he pouted, the low sound of crackling fire grabbed his attention. Why was the fireplace on? He crawled over to the fireplace to investigate, only to stop short as he caught sight of a leg in the fireplace. A fiery leg.

...Grillby was lying in the fireplace.

Well, huddled was probably a better word. He had the back of his head balanced on one side of the fireplace and was curled up so that his legs could rest against the other side. The flames danced across his body as he dozed peacefully, firewood cuddled against his chest.

Papyrus wasn’t entirely sure what he should do next. Was this normal behavior for a fire elemental? Did he accidentally stumble upon a totally unique Grillby thing? In either case, he couldn’t wake Grillby up; he looked way too cute.

What could he… oh, of course, he should do that. He took out his phone, adjusting until he got the perfect angle, and snapped a picture of Grillby lounging. Giggling, he uploaded it to Undernet and typed up a reaction before placing his phone back into his pocket. Papyrus looked at Grillby once more before heading to the kitchen, silently wishing him a good nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry you had to slog through my terribad writing, always taking tips/criticisms/whatever :)
> 
> NSFW Tumblr:[Sesurescue](http://Sesurescue.tumblr.com)


	3. The one about cuddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wants to cuddle <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setting: Early in their relationship, still living apart but Papyrus has a key to Grillby's apartment.
> 
> Took this prompt from prompts-for-the-otp.tumblr.com and it's been like 70% done since february. An anon made me think of it and now it's finally done!
> 
> Prompt 92:  
> Person A being sneaky and going onto extraordinary measures (strategically hiding all coats, turning off the heater whenever it’s on, washing all blanket except one at once) just to have Person B cuddle with them as autumn rolls in. But every plan they have gets foiled by Person B.
> 
> Bonus: Person B ends up snuggling with Person A anyways
> 
> It's kind of short but hopefully it's still good!

Papyrus loved how similar the surface world was to to the underground. Instead of just having different areas of extreme climates like underground, one area on the surface  could go through the blistering hot of Hotland, the fresh rains of Waterfall, and the frigid cold of Snowdin, all within the span of a year! According to Frisk, these were called ‘seasons’, wowie!

Currently, they were experiencing the winter season, and he couldn't be happier; what else could be better than snowball fights, hot chocolate, and cuddling with their favorite skeleton? At least, that's what Papyrus hoped Grillby was looking forward to! However, he knew that this time was a little rough for his beloved.

Fire elementals didn't do well in the cold. Sure, they’re able to survive in the icy temperatures, but it took a toll on their body. They would feel more lethargic, need to layer their clothing heavier than the average monster to stay comfortable, and for some fire elementals it could affect their basic body functions. 

In Grillby’s case, Papyrus learned that it was difficult for him to form words when he was too cold. Whenever he would try to talk all that would come out were the crackles and snaps he naturally made. If he strained his magic he could speak softly, but it was embarrassing to him so usually he strived to keep himself at the perfect level of comfort to avoid that situation. It had been difficult for him underground, but now that they were on the surface, he had doubled his efforts since winter started, and actually did pretty well.

Papyrus, ever the loving skeleton, decided he rather liked Grillby’s vocal dilemma, and as he stood in the living room of Grillby’s apartment,  he vowed that today would be day he would get to hear it in person. He sat on the couch, hand on his chin as he thought through his plan. It had to be subtle,  or Grillby would figure it out right away when he got home, and that simply would not do. 

“I got it!” Papyrus shouted as he stood up quickly, nyeh’ing in victory. It was so easy! He would just clean Grillby’s entire apartment and hide all of his blankets. He knew he could figure it out, he WAS the great Papyrus after all. 

Imbued with a newfound energy, Papyrus got out the cleaning supplies and got to work. He started where he was in the living room, snuffing out the flames in the fireplace and gathering the blankets that were spread out on the couch, placing them on a chair in the  kitchen, before getting a dustpan and dusting around the edges of the room. Luckily for Papyrus, Grillby was already pretty clean so it wasn’t like cleaning up after Sans, but he still left soot here and there, due to the nature of his body.  

After sweeping up, he gave the room another look, confirming that it was clean, and then moved onto the kitchen. Grillby’s kitchen was about the same size of the living room, but it was absolutely spotless. How lucky for Papyrus to find a partner who takes cleaning as seriously as he does! His face glowed with happiness as he left the kitchen and headed to the bathroom, stopping short at the entrance. 

His eyes took in the closed door, already knowing that he wouldn’t have to clean it. Grillby never used the bathroom, instead opting to turn the room into a mini storage room for items he brought up from the underground. It was a perfect place to hide the blankets! 

Smiling, Papyrus backtracked to the kitchen, grabbing and placing them in the bathroom, balancing them on top of a large box on the floor. 

He closed the door, pumping his fist into the air in victory. Mission accomplished; now Grillby would HAVE to talk to him, get embarrassed over his voice, and then Papyrus would be the caring boyfriend and console him, with his arms around him. Nothing could go wrong, nyeh heh heh!...but what should he do now? Papyrus looked left and right, scanning the small studio apartment. He could…do puzzles on the couch? Pulling out his handy dandy pocket puzzle book, the tall skeleton headed over to the couch, sitting down and searching his pockets for a pencil…no pencil.

Papyrus sat up straight, his search interrupted, as he heard a clatter from the front door, keys turning in the lock. The door opened, exposing the apartment to the cold air as Grillby rushed in and quickly shut the door behind him. He ran his gloved hands through the flames on the top of his head, flickering slower and shorter than usual as he took in a deep breath and let it out.

_ So handsome…  _ Papyrus blushed as he took in Grillby’s appearance, praising how perfectly the dark peacoat he was wearing matched his grey knitted scarf. Papyrus idly watched Grillby remove his scarf, stilling as Grillby stared curiously back at him, his scarf loose in his hands. They kept up their impromptu staring contest for bit before Grillby smiled and opened his mouth, as if to greet him, but all that came out was a series of crackling sounds. He cut himself off and frowned, his brows furrowing as he took off his peacoat. Papyrus inwardly cheered as Grillby walked over to the closet, basking in his victory of hearing such adorable sounds. First goal down! 

Grillby hung up his coat and headed back to Papyrus, grabbing a notebook and pen off a side table as he sat on the couch next to Papyrus. Papyrus jittered beside Grillby in excitement as Grillby started writing. Was he gonna ask him to cuddle? His bones may not be warm, but what he lacks in temperature he can make up easily in enthusiasm! Grillby’s pen stopped as he held up his notebook to Papyrus:

**Hi Papyrus, I hope your day went well. It’s a little chilly in here.**

“I wouldn’t know, skeleton’s can’t feel temperature.” Papyrus shrugged his shoulders for emphasis, before opening his arms wide for Grillby. “We are, however, great for cuddling!”

Grillby hummed in thought before standing, scribbling in the notebook again. He held it out to Papyrus.

**Did you put out the fire?**

Papyrus sputtered, sweat falling from his skull rapidly. “I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about, dear.” His soul thumped in panic as Grillby walked over to the fireplace, observing the leftover soot from the fire curiously. 

He rested his hand on the wood softly, taking a deep breath as he channeled his magic towards the wood. With a small snap the block ignited, a spark growing to a small fire in the fireplace. Once Grillby deemed the fire good enough, he turned back to talk to Papyrus, words catching in his throat as he took in the pout on the skeleton’s face. 

“...Papy, are you okay?” Grillby asked, rushing over to console him. Papyrus nodded, his eyelights downcast. 

“Yes, yes, I'm fine. I wanted to cuddle you, but I figured you wouldn't want to cuddle if it wasn't cold, so I… “ He gestured idly to the fireplace. “Sans told me that when you get cold, your voice gets all soft and crackly, and maybe I…wanted to hear it up close.”

Blushing bright orange, Papyrus buried his head in Grillby chest, trying to hide his embarrassment. He was so stupid! Grillby was going to think he was an idiot, a weirdo, not fit for boyfriend material. What kind of person would do this?

A warm hand brushed the top of his skull as Grillby’s chest rumbled against him. “...You are too cute, you know that?” Papyrus squeaked as Grillby’s hands wrapped loosely around his midsection, maneuvering him so that they were lying sideways on the couch, facing each other. 

“...I love cuddling, all you have to do is ask. As for my voice, well…I don't mind spending the evening whispering sweet nothings to you.” Grillby chuckled, the warm tones of his voice sweeping over Papyrus and making him shiver. 

Papyrus rested his skull against Grillby’s head in a sweet skeleton kiss, brushing his nasal bone over Grillby’s flames, sighing in happiness as they flitted over him. “Ahhh this is perfect, you're so warm.”

“You're very comfortable as well. Looks like skeletons really are great for cuddling.” Leaning back slightly, Grillby took his glasses off and laid them on the side table, before coming back to brush his mouth over Papyrus’ mandible. “How about a short nap before dinner time?”

Papyrus let out a small huff. “If we nap all day we'll be as lazy as Sans…but a short nap should be okay.”

The two of them cuddled against each other, falling asleep in the other's embrace. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're so cute, I'm going to lose my mind ahhhhhh!


	4. Color-Coded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a green day, or at least it was supposed to be. (In which Grillby has a panic attack and finds his calling in terrible romance books)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been meaning to write something based on my ‘Papyrus and Grillby doing totally normal things on the surface’ AU headcanons around how Grillby ended up into romance novels, and somehow it ended up being lumped in with developing headcanon around a post-war Grillby.
> 
> Tags: panic attacks, PTSD flashbacks, shitty romance books, Best boy Papyrus coming to save the day

It was a green day.

… Or at least it was supposed to be.

It was a green day when he decided to explore the neighborhood while Papyrus was at work. Since he started going out with Papyrus he found his constant red days turning more and more yellow everyday until green days became obtainable again; it was something about the way the skeleton greeted every human as a new friend that made them seem less threatening, less likely to attack him (and trap him under the ground for another millennia, but he tried to not focus on that).

It was a green day when he stepped out of the apartment, feeling his flames reach up towards the sun as he soaked up the bright rays like a sponge. These past few days (or weeks it felt like) had been cloudy with a chance of rain, so Grillby really didn't desire to spend much time outside, and when he had to he simply rushed from point A to point B to avoid getting caught in a sudden downpour. Today however was warm and pleasant, perfect for wandering around.

It was a green day when he ran into their neighbor, the man who visited the day after he and Papyrus moved in with homemade fudge and cookies. From their first encounter Grillby thought that the man was courteous, which was probably the first time he could describe a human as such. He didn't stare at Grillby and Papyrus like they were freaks, but he also didn't shy away from asking them about monster-specific topics either. Grillby waved as their paths crossed, opening his mouth slightly to mimic a grin since humans weren't quite able to read his flames yet.

It was a green day when he reached the main street, though it was slowly slipping into a high yellow. There were just so many people around. When he turned left, there was a large group of humans laughing; right, a couple of kids coasting down the sidewalk on what he recalled was a skateboard, jumping out of the way to avoid them. Why were there so many people around; was it because it was a nice day? Maybe if he could retreat to a lower populated area he could focus on stopping the slight trembling of his hands. He didn't want to go home yet, but just a quick rest.

It was firmly a low yellow day by the time he found a small stretch of buildings to relax near, and slipping steadily. From what he overheard, there was apparently a parade today, a popular local one that attracted lots of people from other neighborhoods to visit. What luck, to venture out in an attempt to cull his crippling anxiety against humans, only to make it worse by running into a ton of them. He knew he should give up for the day, go home, and have a glass of whiskey (or 5) to help his SOUL slow down from it's frantic pace , but a small part of him just wanted to stay out for a little bit longer, just a tiny bit. Papyrus always joked that he was stubborn, and while he always denied it Grillby knew that it was true in a sense. So, despite his better judgment, he hung around. The parade couldn't be that bad, right?

 _Bad bad bad bad, this was a bad idea_ , Grillby thought to himself as he retreated to the nearest building, his day falling into the red. The parade started off well enough: some fighting demonstrations by tiny humans, older ones strutting by in lavish outfits, and shiny, vintage cars, the good stuff. He was enjoying it, and even clapping along to the domesticated animals doing tricks. But then everything changed when the cannon went off. His flames stood up straight and stiff, his palms became clammy, and his stomach turned violently as he was suddenly thrust back into his memories, shuddering as quick images of blood, dust, and carnage flashed past his eyes. He just managed to make it to a quiet narrow corner of whatever building he ran into (there were books everywhere so it could've been a few places but all of his mental reserves were too busy to ponder on it further) when he collapsed, curling in on himself and covering as much of his head as he could with his peacoat.

It was a red day as he sat in the unknown building, trying to utilize the breathing techniques he learned a long time ago from the Queen. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out. For Grillby, it went more like: stuttering breath in, exhale quickly. Exhale again. Exhale, wait did he forget to breathe in? Breath in. Try not to cry,  _dontdoitjustbreathein_. Inhale while trying to hold in tears. Exhale.

It was a red day when he finally managed to get Papyrus on the phone, after a dozen or so times of trying to get his hands to cooperate enough to dial (he should've put Papyrus on speed dial ages ago, but he never foresaw something like this happening). Despite his voice barely raising above a soft rasping and constantly switching between Firespeak and common, Papyrus quickly understood the situation.  _You have to tell me where you are_ , Papyrus said to him gently over the phone, prompting him to take off his peacoat after what felt like hours of being under it. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the building, and he could tell that he was in a library, huddled in between large shelving full of books.  _The Great Papyrus will be there shortly to retrieve you. Stay calm, and remember to breathe!_ Papyrus said before hanging up the phone.

It was a red day when he heard someone walking towards him: a human. He cowered as an older woman stood in front of him, holding a stack of books. He knew her eyes were on him, but before she could engage him he quickly snatched up a book from the shelf beside him, opening it to the first page and focusing intently on keeping up the ruse of reading to avoid conversation. Somehow, even though he was just pretending to read, he found himself actually getting engaged by the words. The woman left the area by the time he reached page 10, but he didn't notice until page 25. He wish he could say that it was a good book to engage him so thoroughly but…it was awful. Very awful. It was a romance novel he guessed, based on the plot and title ( _Hearth and Romance_ ), but the characters were bland, the romance lackluster, and the sex scene, oh my god. Who the hell decided that 'baby arm' was an acceptable term for a penis?! He wanted to put the book down the entire time, but some warped part of him wanted to explore and see just how bad he could get.

By the time Papyrus (with Sans trailing closely behind) finally found Grillby, he had been five minutes into a giggle fit from the book. Grillby explained the plot to the two of them, pausing every now and again to wipe molten tears from his face.  _“...It's so awful, but I'm having so much fun reading it,”_  Grillby had said, holding onto Papyrus tightly as the other pulled him into a sitting hug.

Despite falling so low, his day rose to a low yellow when he went to the check-out counter, flanked by Papyrus and Sans as he signed up for a library card. The woman he ran into earlier smiled while checking out the book for him, slipping a small piece of paper into the front flap with a list of recommendations, and he managed to eek out a low thank you in response.

Even though Sans had come to guide them to a shortcut straight back into their apartment, Grillby waved the offer off. Somehow the shitty book he picked up helped him dissociate from the pain, from the flashbacks of large, imposing armies with swords and catapults. It was hard to be afraid of humans when they wrote garbage like this, after all. He squeezed Papyrus’ hand as he directed them to the front entrance, wanting to walk home through the crowds that sent him fleeing in the first place. With Papyrus next to him, he felt like he could do anything, and having a clutch like Sans around wasn't too bad either. Luckily the streets were empty, the parade long over with and spectators off to do whatever it is humans do after parades. Even though Grillby was ready to face his fear, he couldn't help the sigh of relief from coming out.

It was still a yellow day (and rising) for Grillby when they reached the apartment, and Sans made sure they got through the door before leaving with a wink and a wave. Papyrus instantly transformed into mother hen mode, setting up the fireplace before wrapping himself and Grillby up in blankets on the couch and holding him close, whispering praise against his flames. Grillby relaxed into the embrace, succumbing to exhaustion faster than he realized. After kissing Papyrus on the teeth and thanking him again for everything, he allowed himself to fall asleep.

Usually after a red day Grillby had nightmares of the past, but today he only had dreams of romance, of hearth, and of home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Feel free to bother me on my tumblr (nsfw): [Sesurescue](http://Sesurescue.tumblr.com)


End file.
